A Level
A Level Paper 2: Memory and Psychopathology
Memory models, eyewitness testimony and forgetting, definitions of abnormality and phobias, depression and OCD, plus research methods and statistics.
Questions
Question 1 [2 marks]
Research Methods and Statistics
State one strength and one limitation of using a laboratory experiment in psychological research.
Question 2 [2 marks]
Depression and OCD
State two cognitive characteristics of depression.
Question 3 [3 marks]
Definitions of Abnormality and Phobias
Outline the 'deviation from ideal mental health' definition of abnormality, with reference to Jahoda's criteria.
Question 4 [4 marks]
Memory Models and Multi-Store Memory
Outline the difference between episodic memory and semantic memory as two types of long-term memory, giving an example of each.
Question 5 [3 marks]
Eyewitness Testimony and Forgetting
Outline what is meant by 'context-dependent forgetting', giving an example.
Question 6 [5 marks]
Research Methods and Statistics
A psychologist gives the same memory test to eight participants before and after a training programme.
Scores before: 14, 16, 12, 18, 15, 17, 13, 19. Scores after: 18, 19, 15, 20, 17, 20, 16, 21.
Calculate the mean score before training, the mean score after training, and the improvement in the mean score.
Question 7 [4 marks]
Definitions of Abnormality and Phobias
Explain two limitations of the 'failure to function adequately' definition of abnormality.
Question 8 [5 marks]
Research Methods and Statistics
Two independent groups complete a memory test. Group A (with distraction) scores 12, 14, 10, 16, 13. Group B (without distraction) scores 18, 20, 17, 19, 21.
Calculate the mean for each group and the difference between the means.
Question 9 [4 marks]
Eyewitness Testimony and Forgetting
Explain two further techniques used in the cognitive interview, besides 'report everything'.
Question 10 [4 marks]
Memory Models and Multi-Store Memory
Explain the role of the visuo-spatial sketchpad and the episodic buffer in the working memory model.
Question 11 [6 marks]
Eyewitness Testimony and Forgetting
Discuss research into the effect of anxiety on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.
Question 12 [6 marks]
Research Methods and Statistics
Discuss peer review and its role in the scientific process in psychology.
Question 13 [6 marks]
Eyewitness Testimony and Forgetting
Discuss the application of eyewitness testimony research to the criminal justice system.
Question 14 [6 marks]
Depression and OCD
Discuss Beck's cognitive theory of depression, including the role of negative schemas and cognitive biases.
Model solutions
| Question 1[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| a suitable strength, e.g. high control over extraneous variables allows cause and effect to be established | 1 |
| a suitable limitation, e.g. the artificial setting may reduce ecological validity | 1 |
| Final answer: Strength: high control allows cause and effect to be established. Limitation: the artificial setting can reduce ecological validity. | |
| Question 2[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying poor concentration or indecisiveness as a cognitive characteristic | 1 |
| identifying absolutist ('black and white') thinking, or negative, irrational beliefs about the self, as a further cognitive characteristic | 1 |
| Final answer: Cognitive characteristics of depression include poor concentration/indecisiveness and absolutist, black-and-white thinking. | |
| Question 3[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that this definition classes a person as abnormal when they lack characteristics associated with good mental health | 1 |
| reference to one of Jahoda's criteria, e.g. autonomy | 1 |
| reference to a second of Jahoda's criteria, e.g. self-actualisation or an accurate perception of reality | 1 |
| Final answer: This definition sees abnormality as an absence of criteria for good mental health, such as autonomy and an accurate perception of reality, proposed by Jahoda. | |
| Question 4[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying episodic memory as memory for personal events/experiences, timestamped with when and where they happened | 1 |
| a suitable example of episodic memory, e.g. remembering your first day at secondary school | 1 |
| identifying semantic memory as memory for facts and general knowledge about the world | 1 |
| a suitable example of semantic memory, e.g. knowing that Paris is the capital of France | 1 |
| Final answer: Episodic memory is memory for personal, timestamped experiences (e.g. your first day at secondary school); semantic memory is memory for general facts and knowledge (e.g. knowing Paris is the capital of France). | |
| Question 5[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying context-dependent forgetting as forgetting that occurs when the external environment at recall differs from the environment at learning | 1 |
| explaining that recall is generally better when the environment matches at both points | 1 |
| a suitable example, e.g. finding it easier to remember an answer while sitting in the room where you revised it | 1 |
| Final answer: Context-dependent forgetting occurs when the external environment at recall differs from the environment at learning, since matching environments provide helpful cues, e.g. recalling an answer more easily in the room where it was revised. | |
| Question 6[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| summing the eight 'before' scores, 14 + 16 + 12 + 18 + 15 + 17 + 13 + 19 = 124 | M1 |
| a 'before' mean of 15.5 (124 / 8) | A1 |
| summing the eight 'after' scores, 18 + 19 + 15 + 20 + 17 + 20 + 16 + 21 = 146 | M1 |
| an 'after' mean of 18.25 (146 / 8) | A1 |
| an improvement of 2.75 (18.25 - 15.5) | A1 |
| Final answer: Mean before = 15.5, mean after = 18.25, improvement = 2.75. | |
| Question 7[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that judgements of who is failing to function are often subjective, made by an observer rather than the individual | 1 |
| a suitable example, e.g. an unusual lifestyle may be judged dysfunctional by others despite the person being content | 1 |
| identifying that the definition may class atypical but not harmful behaviour as abnormal | 1 |
| a suitable example, e.g. an extreme sportsperson taking unusual risks could be seen as failing to function despite thriving | 1 |
| Final answer: Limitations include the subjectivity of judgements about functioning, and the risk of labelling atypical but harmless behaviour as abnormal. | |
| Question 8[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| summing Group A's scores, 12 + 14 + 10 + 16 + 13 = 65 | M1 |
| a Group A mean of 13 (65 / 5) | A1 |
| summing Group B's scores, 18 + 20 + 17 + 19 + 21 = 95 | M1 |
| a Group B mean of 19 (95 / 5) | A1 |
| a difference between the means of 6 (19 - 13) | A1 |
| Final answer: Group A mean = 13, Group B mean = 19, difference between the means = 6. | |
| Question 9[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying 'change order', recalling events in a different chronological order, e.g. starting from the end | 1 |
| explaining this aims to prevent the witness relying on expectations of what should have happened, which might produce inaccurate details | 1 |
| identifying 'change perspective', recalling the incident from another person's point of view | 1 |
| explaining this aims to disrupt the effect of expectations/schema on recall, prompting different, potentially more accurate, details | 1 |
| Final answer: 'Change order' has the witness recall events in a different sequence, e.g. from the end backwards, to prevent recall being distorted by expectations of what should happen; 'change perspective' has the witness recall from another person's viewpoint, for the same reason, both aiming to disrupt schema-driven recall. | |
| Question 10[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying the visuo-spatial sketchpad as a component that processes visual and spatial information | 1 |
| a suitable example, e.g. picturing a route around a familiar building | 1 |
| identifying the episodic buffer as a later-added component that integrates information from the other components | 1 |
| elaborating that the episodic buffer also links working memory to long-term memory | 1 |
| Final answer: The visuo-spatial sketchpad processes visual/spatial information, e.g. picturing a route; the episodic buffer, added later to the model, integrates information from the other components and links working memory to long-term memory. | |
| Question 11[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| outlining the view that anxiety has a negative effect on recall, e.g. via weapon focus narrowing attention away from other details | 1 |
| reference to a suitable weapon-focus type finding of reduced accuracy under high anxiety | 1 |
| outlining the alternative view that anxiety can enhance recall, e.g. via the fight-or-flight response increasing alertness to central detail | 1 |
| reference to a finding of enhanced eyewitness accuracy under genuinely stressful, real-life conditions | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. the Yerkes-Dodson law can reconcile the conflicting findings with a curvilinear relationship between anxiety and accuracy | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. ethical and methodological issues, such as staged versus real-life anxiety, limit the conclusions that can be drawn | 1 |
| Final answer: Discuss the negative view (weapon focus) versus positive view (fight-or-flight, real-life studies) of anxiety on recall, reconciled by the Yerkes-Dodson law, with evaluation of ethical and methodological limits. | |
| Question 12[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying peer review as the evaluation of research by other qualified experts in the same field before it is published | 1 |
| outlining its purpose, e.g. checking the validity, methodology and significance of the work before it reaches the wider scientific community | 1 |
| identifying a use of peer review, e.g. an academic journal deciding whether to publish a study, or a funding body deciding whether to fund proposed research | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. it helps maintain quality control and public confidence in published psychological research | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. reviewers may be biased against research that challenges their own established theories, potentially slowing scientific progress | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. the process can be slow, potentially delaying the publication of important or urgent findings | 1 |
| Final answer: Peer review is expert evaluation before publication, supporting quality control, but risking reviewer bias against challenging findings and delaying urgent publication. | |
| Question 13[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| outlining that laboratory research, e.g. into leading questions, has informed guidance on how police should phrase questions to witnesses | 1 |
| outlining that the cognitive interview, developed from psychological research, is now used by police forces to improve the accuracy of witness accounts | 1 |
| identifying that research has highlighted the risk of wrongful conviction based on inaccurate but confident eyewitness testimony | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. much of the underpinning research used artificial lab tasks, questioning how directly it applies to genuinely traumatic real crimes | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. field studies of real witnesses, such as of an actual robbery, support reasonably accurate recall of central details, suggesting some real-world applicability | 1 |
| a concluding evaluation point, e.g. despite these limitations, EWT research has had clear practical value in shaping interview procedure and identification guidelines | 1 |
| Final answer: EWT research has practically improved police questioning and interview technique (e.g. the cognitive interview) and highlighted the risk of wrongful conviction from confident but inaccurate testimony; its main limitation is reliance on artificial lab research, though field studies of real witnesses support some real-world applicability. | |
| Question 14[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| outlining negative self-schemas, mental frameworks that lead a person to interpret information about themselves negatively | 1 |
| outlining the cognitive triad, negative views of self, world and future, as maintaining depressive thinking | 1 |
| outlining a cognitive bias, e.g. selectively attending to negative aspects of a situation while ignoring positive ones | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. research support finding depressed patients recall more negative self-relevant words than non-depressed participants, consistent with negative schema | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. the theory has practical application, underpinning cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as an effective treatment | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. the theory may better explain the maintenance of depression than its initial onset, since it does not fully explain why the negative schema developed in the first place | 1 |
| Final answer: Outline negative self-schemas, the cognitive triad and cognitive biases; evaluate with research support for negative recall bias and the theory's practical application to CBT, while noting it explains maintenance of depression better than its original onset. | |